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My Skin Helmet!

Have you ever had third degree burns on top of your head? You played in the creek for a few hours, bald headed with no sunscreen, and not realizing it, you were slowly roasting your own cranium?

First I’ll talk about what I did today. My wife and I, my niece Laci and her mum ended up on the beach and we had a jolly old time. I love the beach. I grew up in an English seaside village and as a kid I used to spend ample amounts of time frolicking in the sea and sand. So whenever I get a chance to go to the coast, I jump at it.

I took my sunscreen with me and liberally lathered my head with the stuff. Just like the bottle says, I apply it as and when I need it. I’m very proactive when it comes to skin care in the sun. But that hasn’t always been the case…

Back in 2006, I learned the benefits of sunscreen the hard way. During those times we used to love to go to the creek and swim. We didn’t have creeks back in England when I was growing up, but now, since moving to the United States, I love them. Just splashing around in the clear, cool water. Eating ham sandwiches and watermelon and feeding the fish suits me down to the ground.

But during one particular visit to Flint Creek in Wiggins, Mississippi, I decided to forgo the sunscreen and my “I know better” attitude gnashed it’s long, sharp teeth and bit me in my bum. Like all sunburns, I didn’t notice it at first. When I got home, I looked in the mirror and realized that my wishy-washy attitude to sunscreen had resulted in me getting a horrific sunburn. It wasn’t just red, it was glowing red!

It turned out I had given myself a very nasty third degree sunburn. It was almost macabre. As the days passed by, my skin dried out and little blisters popped up everywhere. And these little blisters would fall off at just a fingers touch. The holes they created caused clear liquid to ooze from them. This was happening frequently and it was quite alarming. What would happen if these holes continued to ooze and my head literally dried out? Thankfully that didn’t happen, but something equally as gross did. The affected area (the entire top of my head) turned yellow and just sat there as a disgusting “skin helmet.” And it wasn’t going anywhere by itself. I manually had to peel off the yellow dead skin by myself. Very nasty!

The whole ordeal was physically (as in scarring) and mentally damaging. I vowed I’d never do that to myself again, and so far I haven’t. And, touch wood, I never intend to!